Salmon bowl 5/16/22

Posted on May 17, 2022 by Beebamom

Salmon over rice with cucumber, edamame, snow peas, cabbage, and avocado

For a vegan or vegetarian preparation see note below.

This salmon bowl is half hot entree, half salad, and one hundred percent delicious. John cooks our salmon on one side after a 20 minute brine starting in a cold pan over low heat. When the fish is cooked to around 125F, he turns off the heat and flips the fish over so that the top surface has a little sear from the still warm pan. He removes the skin at this point.

My job is to prepare the vegetables and make the dressing. The snow peas were a new addition so I had to blanch them before adding them to the salad. Everything else is merely sliced up although I did have to get the edamame out of the shells.

The dressing is what really makes this dish especially yummy. We also dust the top with furikake which is a Japanese condiment.

NOTE: We also make this dish with shrimp but it would be delicious with no fish or with tofu that you could marinate in the dressing. Also no fish sauce in the dressing.

Salmon bowl dressing

  • 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 chopped scallions
  • 3 Tablespoons minced garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Stir together. The dressing does not emulsify. Sometimes I use a touch fish sauce to correct. I also use a little Splends instead of sugar and I do not like things sweet so you may need more sugar.

Posted in Asian, Easy, Fish, Legumes, pescatarian, Recipes, rice, Salad, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Leave a comment

Scrambled eggs and Caprese salad 5/15/22

Posted on May 16, 2022 by Beebamom
Scrambled eggs and Caprese salad

Sunday night is a day of rest for the cooks at our house. We always make Breakfast for Dinner for ourselves. John makes a ham, cheese, mushroom, and scallion omelet and I make an egg dish which varies a lot from week to week. This week I had some compari tomatoes and our backyard basil had some nice leaves ready to use so I made a Caprese salad. I used feta rather than mozzarella because it is what I had.

I have been using the Mark Bittman method for my soft scrambled eggs. You put your already whipped up eggs in a pan over relatively high heat and continue to move them around. When they start to set you take them off the heat and continue to scramble in the residual heat of the pan. Then if they are not done enough you give them another brief heating and then take them off again continuing to scramble. I have found that two shots of heat will usually be enough for my eggs to get to the consistency I like..

Posted in American, Breakfast For Dinner (BFD), Easy, Eggs, Methods, Salad, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Weekly Menu May 16 – 22, 2022

Posted on May 15, 2022 by Beebamom
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Afghani nachos and dal 5/14/22

Posted on May 15, 2022 by Beebamom

I have been making this red lentil dish for a long time but since our son was coming over for dinner I wanted some kind of appetizer as well. Looking on the same site where I found Afghani dal I came across a recipe for Afghani nachos. Since even the recipe writer’s children suggested that the nachos be separated to make eating them less messy, I went along with that suggestion and made deconstructed Afghani nachos.

Deconstructed Afghani nachos – salty, garlicky Greek yogurt, spiced chickpeas, pita chips

The yogurt component is Greek yogurt, minced garlic, and salt. The chickpeas and green onions are spiced with cumin and paprika. We did not find that spicy enough so I added ground red pepper as well as lime zest, lime juice, and salt. Since the family still did not think it was spicy enough, after dipping a chip in the yogurt and adding some chickpeas, they gave their nacho a squirt of sriracha. As adapted, everyone thought it was a good appetizer. This is the site for the recipes for the nachos and also the dal. https://www.afghancultureunveiled.com/humaira-ghilzai/2015/10/21/afghan-nachoschickpeas-creamy-greek-yogurt-and-pita-chips, https://www.afghancultureunveiled.com/humaira-ghilzai/afghancooking/2010/01/dal-afghan-soul-food.html-san92

Afghani dal (red lentils) and rice

Our son really liked the red lentils. I think he will be making it at his house too!

Posted in Afghan, Legumes, Recipes, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Grilled portobello with 2-bean vegetable salad 5/13/22

Posted on May 14, 2022 by Beebamom
Grilled portobello mushroom with sauteed onions on a sesame hard roll and 2-bean vegetable salad

If you are trying to eat more plant-based meals, grilling a portobello mushroom instead of a meat burger is a great substitution. John marinated the mushrooms in no fat Italian salad dressing and balsamic vinegar and sprinkled on some garlic powder, salt, oregano. They took about 12 minutes on the pre-heated grill.

I made my 2-bean salad with a drained can each of black beans, black eyed peas, and petite diced tomatoes. Other vegetables are onion, scallion, carrot, celery, jalapeño, garlic, red bell pepper, and cilantro. The dressing was made from no fat Italian dressing, balsamic and cider vinegars, cumin, Tabasco sauce, sriracha, and lime zest and juice. Plus salt, this salad needs a lot of salt. I think I ate a quarter of it testing it for the right levels of salt, acid, and spiciness.

As summer approaches, we will be making more of these types of dinners. When it gets really hot out (90-105F) we will be cooking outside more and eating salads to keep the house cool and our tummies happy.

Posted in American, Grilling, Healthy tips, Legumes, Salad, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Shrimp with broccoli and zucchini over polenta 5/12/22

Posted on May 13, 2022 by Beebamom
Shrimp with broccoli and zucchini over polenta

Shrimp with vegetables over polenta is our version of shrimp and grits. John uses Bob’s Red Mill polenta and makes it in a ratio of six parts water to one part polenta. One half cup of polenta turns into quite a lot. He adds salt and a tablespoon of faux butter so these are pretty healthy grits. He also cooked the shrimp in a touch of olive oil and olive oil spray until they were brown and just cooked through.

I sautéed a quarter of a large onion and two cloves of garlic in some butter spray and salt and then added broccoli and zucchini to the pan with a quarter cup of water and two teaspoons of butter. By the time the water had mostly evaporated the vegetables were done and had a hint of butter. It is amazing how a little bit of butter really improves the taste.

Except for having to use three pans that increased clean-up, this was an easy prep and cook meal that was super filling, tasty, and easy to prepare.

Posted in American, Easy, Grains, Healthy tips, Methods, pescatarian, Shellfish, Vegetables | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Fusilli with mushrooms and kale 5/11/22

Posted on May 12, 2022 by Beebamom
Fusilli with mushrooms and kale

It’s pasta Wednesday! It’s also vegan Wednesday! I try to keep my Wednesdays vegan along with one or two other vegan or vegetarian days a week. This week along with with this pasta dinner, Friday (Afghani dal), Saturday (grilled porto mushrooms), and Sunday (Breakfast for Dinner) are all either vegan or vegetarian. I like to think that we are helping the planet as well as helping our waistlines!

I have been buying Trader Joe’s shredded kale which means the hardest things I have to do are cutting up the mushrooms, onion, and garlic. If I start with the mushrooms then they can be cooking while I cut up the rest of the stuff. The Al Dente Carba-Nada fusilli only takes about 4-5 minutes to cook so I need to be sauteeing the mushrooms, onions, and garlic (going into the pan in that order) before John drops the pasta. As the pasta is done and he is draining it (after reserving a cup of pasta water), I put in great handfuls of the kale. It look like a lot but it cooks down a ton.

At this point I stir the whole thing around adding pasta water to create a light sauce. Since I have been using olive oil spray up to this point, I also add in a teaspoon or so of olive oil, the real thing. Since I am not having grated cheese on mine I make sure that everything including the pasta water has been well salted during the cooking.

This whole process takes about 20 minutes total and the result is very satisfying. Why not choose a pasta/vegan day for yourself!?

Portion size for the pasta is 3 ounces

Posted in Easy, Healthy tips, Italian, Methods, Pasta, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Roasted talapia with sheet pan sprouts and squash 5/10/22

Posted on May 11, 2022 by Beebamom

Roasted talapia with sheet pan Brussels sprouts and butternut suash

Tonight’s easy, delicious, quick, and healthy dinner is all a matter of timing.

Method:

  • Turn the oven on to 425F convect
  • During the preheat season the fish in a baking dish with olive oil, Old Bay, salt, garlic powder, and tarragon leaves. Also halve the sprouts and cut the squash (pre-peeled and cut package) into uniform chunks. Shake the veg in a plastic bag with olive oil and salt. Lay the pieces out on a sheet pan covered in aluminum foil and sprayed with olive oil cooking spray.
  • By now the oven should be heated up. place the sheet pan in the oven and set timer for 10 minutes.
  • At 10 minutes check for doneness. My sprouts were large and took longest to cook. Rotate the sheet pan.
  • At this point put the fish in the oven. I put mine on a rack just under the vegetables. Set timer for another 10 minutes but keep your eye on the vegetables and pull them when they are done and cover loosely with foil. I took mine out of the oven at 20 minutes total. They waited two minutes while the fish finished up.
  • After the second 10 minutes are up, temp the fish. Anything between 125 and 140 should be fine. Ours needed an extra two minutes at this point.
  • Serve with lemon or tartar sauce. I used some leftover sauce grabiche.

Voila! Dinner is on the table in 22 minutes! Although talapia gets no respect as a food fish, it is a mild tasting white fish which takes to sauces well and in the world of expensive fish is relatively cheap. I buy them frozen in a bag of individual fillets from Costco.

Posted in American, Easy, Fish, Methods, pescatarian, Sheet pan, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment

Chicken with quadruple vegetables 5/9/22

Posted on May 10, 2022 by Beebamom
Chicken with gravy over cauliflower rice and cabbage with asparagus and broccoli

Rotisserie chicken and McCormack’s chicken gravy took care of the protein portion of our dinner. Unfortunately the white rice we were planning on having had languished in the refrigerator too long so it got pitched. I had been planning on half cauliflower rice anyway so I just added some slivered cabbage to it for the base of my dish. Steamed broccoli and asparagus made up my last two veggies.

Adding extra vegetables instead of a starch is a good way to lower carbs and calories. An added bonus is an extra large portion!


Posted in American, Easy, Healthy tips, Methods, Poultry, Vegetables | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Mother’s Day Specials 5/8/22

Posted on May 9, 2022 by Beebamom

My kids made me some special treats for Mother’s Day! Since I have to go back on my diet on Monday, I really enjoyed these over the weekend!!

First, my daughter made this delicious Swedish tea ring. Usually it has a white sugar icing glaze but I vetoed that because 1) it makes it too sweet and 2) you have to wait until it cools to put put the icing on which delays eating it! Here it is just out of the oven.

You can find her recipe here – https://www.braisinhussy.com/2016/12/08/dugan-ish-coffee-cake/

Swedish tea ring

On Sunday we went to our son’s house where there were hugs and cards from the grandkids and of course more treats for mom. In addition to having bagels and lox he made a delicious strata which is a bread, egg, cheese, and spicy Italian sausage concoction. Yum!

Strata

So what with all the lovely food, hugs, cards, and flowers (from John) I felt well-loved on Mother’s Day!

Posted in American, Baking, Eggs, Holidays, Special occasion | Tagged , | Leave a comment